


the path you’ve made will draw out a future

by yurishika



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Canon Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 10:51:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1425784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yurishika/pseuds/yurishika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All it takes is a phone call to tell him again that he’ll overcome anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the path you’ve made will draw out a future

Saitama’s alive, even if it’s close to midnight, bright lights and throbbing music on buildings, salarymen on the way home, hostesses looking for men to give a good time to. He should be pretty used to it by now, but two years in Toronto had conditioned his mind to go home before midnight, when the city settles to dim lights, succumbs to sleep. Yuzuru, meanwhile, cannot succumb to sleep, sleep he should be getting for tomorrow’s practice. But sleep isn’t so easy for him, tonight, not with the recent events.

He jumps when he hears his phone ringing. Part of him is tempted to ignore it altogether, but it could be anyone worried about him. Kanako has already sent him tons of encouraging messages ripped from Johnny’s songs. Misha had told him it could have been worse (and Yuzuru doesn’t even reply to that). Everyone had been encouraging, but yet he can’t bring his spirits up. 

He checks his phone and gets a barrage of notifications from Misha, all pictures of his latest explorations in Saitama. Yuzuru would have typically replied with recommendations on where to go next, but he isn’t in the mood. He lazily scrolls through Misha’s wanderlust and fashion posts, Denis’ blog posts, Michael’s … 

His finger stops swiping the screen. 

He doesn’t know what came over him, but he opens his LINE and presses Call on the younger one’s name. He instantly regrets it when he hears the other end ringing. What is he doing? What is he going to talk about with Michael? Maybe he should just ha-- 

“Hello?” 

Ah, crap. “H-Hey,” he says, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. “Did I interrupt your beauty sleep?” 

“Not really.” Michael yawns, and Yuzuru can tell that the other one sounds surprised for the sudden call. “I stayed up all night with Coach Viktor watching Worlds.” 

“Oh …” Yuzuru gulps, though that shouldn’t come off a surprise. “Um, did you see …?” 

“Your short program? Yeah, I did. I watched the whole thing, actually.” He can hear shifting from the other line, and Yuzuru assumes that Michael is still on his bed, too lazy to get up just yet. 

“I fell,” Yuzuru says, and resists the urge to slap himself for stating the obvious. 

“Yeah, you did,” Michael says. 

“I hate falling.” 

“Everybody does,” Michael says matter-of-factly. “But you’re on third even when you fell, and it’s not that bad.” 

“I’ve never fallen on _Parisienne Walkways_ before,” Yuzuru says, and there, he said it. The short program had always been his saving grace in figure skating competitions, _Parisienne Walkways_ making him feel light and invincible every time he performs it. If it not were for his quick reflexes, he would have never gotten up after a humiliating fall. 

Coach Brian might have told him to make up for the free skate, Javier might have patted him reassuringly afterwards, but it’s not okay. Falling has never been okay. Losing a chance at the gold medal will never be okay. 

“It’s just …” Yuzuru lets out a breath he doesn’t know he’s been holding. 

“You’re bummed,” Michael finishes for him. “Bummed and angry at yourself.” 

“Yeah,” he replies through gritted teeth. 

“Do you want me to give you a pep talk?” 

“Do you want to?” 

He imagines Michael shrugging on the other line. “I’d love to, but I bet everyone already gave you one,” he replies. 

“Yeah, they did.” Yuzuru feels his lips turning up to a smile despite himself. 

“Aren’t you going to sleep yet?” 

At the word, he already feels the beginnings of drowsiness creeping up to him. “Couldn’t sleep a while ago,” he says. “But I guess I’ll be turning in now.” 

“Okay.” From the other end, he can hear Michael’s mother yelling at him to come down. The younger one sighs. “And I guess that’s my cue to hang up, too.” 

“Thanks,” Yuzuru says. 

“For what?” Michael asks with a chuckle. 

Yuzuru shrugs. “I don’t know,” he says. “For answering my call.” 

“Silly,” Michael says, another chuckle. “I’ll always answer your calls.” His mother yells in the background again, and he groans. “Yeah, I guess I really have to go.” 

“Okay. Bye.” 

“Oh, Yuzu?” Michael says before he can even hang up. 

“Yeah?” 

“You’re going to own the free skate.” 

“Because I’m the Olympic champion?” 

“Nah,” Michael says. “Because when you fall, you get back on your feet stronger and more determined than ever.” Then there’s a long pause. “That’s what I like about you.” 

Yuzuru is glad that it’s dark and he’s talking to Michael on the phone, because he feels his face warming up, his chest swelling. “You always say the right words to make me feel better,” he says. “And that’s what I like about you.” 

Suddenly he hears the door opening on Michael’s end, and his mother talking shrilly. “Michael, your boyfriend needs to sleep, and you need to eat your breakfast, now come on down!” And then there’s the loud closing of the door. 

“Yeah, that’s my cue,” Michael says, though he doesn’t sound apologetic. “Talk to you soon?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Good luck, Yuzu.” And they both hang up. 

Yuzuru doesn’t go back to his room right away, only stares at his phone, and waits for the color in his cheeks to subside. “That’s what I like about you … huh …?” he says to himself, and the smile is back on his face. Once he feels back to normal,, he tiptoes back to his room and lets sleep take over as soon as he hits the bed, his phone conversation with Michael still in his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> \- this was written on march 26, following yuzuru’s short program. i didn’t get to post this on monday just because my muses left me when i needed it.  
> \- it's not as good as my other fics sobs  
> \- the title of the fic is taken from the song “road to glory” by arashi, which was also ntv’s theme song for the sochi olympics. the [translation](http://yarukizero.livejournal.com/164822.html) is credited to yarukizero @ lj.


End file.
